this king chews his nails until they bleed and pours out his medicine because he believes everyone wants him dead.

And generally behaves like the kind of king people would reasonably want dead.
--

Hee-soo refuses to marry anyone who can’t beat her at baduk

Reminds me of the Greek myth Atalanta and Melanion -- want the girl, have to beat her at her own game.
--

promising to meet on the next rainfall

Wouldn't want to depend on that in some parts of the world, like California a couple years ago.

I tried but gave up after 30 mins as it seemed a bit dry and reminded me of My Dearest. After reading your recap mistyisles, it sounds more promising so perhaps I should give it another go.

I am a bit surprised why I was so drawn into this type of sageuk which I try to avoid like plague.

All the palace politics are pretty standard. There’s a bunch of plotting Queens to “nominate” their “candidate”. A bunch of ministers scheming with Queens to help them. Mad king lacking confidence and slowly dying from a horrible disease called Isheactuallybeingpoisoned. Evil villains with sneers and their evil minions. A dash of Qin/Ming thrown in to give a taste to a standard recipe to cook up a sageuk’s screenplay. …And despite all of it, I did like it!

The main leads killed it for me. JJS and SSK were so emotive with their faces and eyes, it all crackled through my screen with chemistry and unspoken emotion. Whew. The show is surprisingly a lot more sexier than I thought, that “dressing up” scene was so frantic and innocently alluring and probably the sexiest scene of the kdrama this year so far. Prince quoting poetry and giving out romantic nicknames and hitting all the archery bullseyes and being so smart and loyal and so wistful, (pause to fan myself.) And our heroine being so assertive and smart but in the same time so adorably innocent! I mean, I’m not sure if someone attempted to “captivate” the king yet here but they certainly captivated me!

The pacing is measured, and each scene “captivates” (I know, I know) you with meaning and beauty. Not sure if I can stomach 14 more episodes of palace politics and stupid misunderstanding of historical proportions that most likely will give rise to a stupid revenge (I certainly don’t see the plot being groundbreaking yet to suggest otherwise) but I’m definitely in to see this main couple’s romance. Sign me up for more “dressing up” scenes, please!

JJS is my absolute favourite actor so I was determined to give it a try but his portrayal felt a bit lacklustre. I kinda lost interest in the whole thing around the end of episode one and realised I never liked a single project of SSK’s. However your review thawed me a little so I might give it a try again.

I like the ML but I'm a little bit tired by the trope of noble woman who doesn't want to marry, has a secret life and a poor maid who needs to protect her master from herself. The FL does nothing during the whole day except playing baduk and strolling everywhere. Her life is not bad. I don't understand the fact she wants to marry only someone who can beat her. I don't think she understands what she should search in a future husband...

I liked the politics for now. I was happy to see Choi Dae-hoon in a good role as big brother, it changed from his usual weasel roles, but sadly it didn't last very long...

I like it when it starts with comfort and refuge and a friend you trust. but will it get turned around?

Since I watch anything with JJS in it, there was no question that I would also watch this drama. I liked the first two episodes so much that I can't wait for next weekend.
I'm ready for the drama, angst and heartbreak to come.
Hopefully the remaining episodes will be as good as the first two. Unfortunately, I've had to experience several times recently that I was quite euphoric at the beginning only to be totally disappointed later (My Demon *cough*).

I thought I will skip this but it showed in netflix and I like JJS. I would normally avoid any drama SSK is in because of previous portrayals in her past dramas. But its really worth noting that
there is something magnetic about Jo Jung Seok and Shin Se Kyung here. The story is nothing new (since its the standard court politicking and power grabs) but I feel it in the way how their scenes were shot. The director really did his magic to make every important scene captivating. I also do not mind SSK as much as in her previous dramas. I really like her here.
There is also something endearing about the two main leads but of course their magical initial interactions will not last long with the SML meddling.
I will have to check ep3 and 4 to see if this is a keeper.

I am not captivated on this show yet, maybe my expectations were too high. I am surprised that a director can make the drama this dull with Jo Jung-seok, Shin Se-kyung and Choi Dae-hoon. I really hope it will get better.

How anybody cannot recognize Hee-soo as a girl from close up (playing a Baduk game for example) is beyond believe.

I haven't gotten to the 2nd episode, but I really liked the first episode. It is interesting reading the comments because aside from Hospital Playlist I have never cared for JJS in anything, I have intensely disliked him a lot of things, lol, but here I think he is really great. Very understated. His character is super tragic and I think he is portraying that beautifully.

I'm still halfway to episode 1. I totally forgot I didn't complete it.

This is one drama that I reckon I have to watch when I am calm and not handy or anything.

How the relationship between the brothers devolved left me surprised. How did they go from this to that. Here I thought it was because King-hyung has birthed a son. I'm more shocked that the 180° turn was as a result of rumors upon rumors.

Jo Jung-seok is doing a very good job. I'm too tired and relaxed watching him do his thing onscreen.
Shin Se-kyung... She delivered as I expected.

The reveal that she's Lord Kang's daughter is one I wasn't expecting at all. It was very smart of them to introduce a crossdressing character and give me all the information about her and I'm still not connecting the dots to her identity when the Queen asked for her hand in marriage to her family. I basically forgot that Baduk player must belong to a family. Maybe I did. Just not Lord Kang's. That would be too obvious.
I don't like Myung-ha already. And the fact that he's this pesky fly that'll hover annoyingly around the OTP is something I'll belligerently put up with cause left to me, I'll have him squashed with immediate effect.

The royal marriage proposal🤦🏽‍♂️. The Matchmakers just finished one and now you want to add another. I'm sure the marriage proposal is to stop Lord Kang supporting his daughter. However, with the kind of family they are, it also seemed to me like a threat to him should he or his daughter agree to it. They'll be entering this prison contract they can never get out of.

Their Baduk game though...loved the whole thing. And the rapport with the Head gibang lady, on point.

It seems to me like Jinhan already knows she's not a male. Not until it was revealed to be a fake out. I hope they won't stretch out that plotline for too long though. Jinhan is too exposed to be deceived by such a ruse for far too long.

I'll do well to finish this up before WWW.

I'm in love with this show. The angst seems perfectly set up. I don't want the king and Jin-han to be at odds but you can totally understand how circumstances will lead them there.

Also, I love SSK in sageuks, have done so ever since Tree with Deep Roots. I think it's where she shines best. ♥ (For those who haven't seen it or have no time to binge, check out HeadsNo2's recap!)

I was waiting for this, saguek being my favourite genre. This is my first JJS show, and I liked him (now this is an actor I would love to watch).
The pacing was interesting and JJS's expressions are captivating. Love those little nuances.
Even the fact that I absolutely dislike the FL (I have religiously stayed away from Shin Se kyeon projects, she just gets to me for no apparent reason) - I want to give this a try.

Coming so close to the heels of My Dearest, the comparisons are a given. And compared to MD, to be honest, the cinematography is garish, the set up is dissapointing and the characters look - I don't know - out of place?
And this one is the most feminine androgynous character so far.
And I am missing Namkoon Min and Ahn Eun Jin......
Overall, it's interesting and verdict is still out (it opened as Netflix Top 10 and has lost the place since which I find interesting).

We have past weeks 1 and 2 where the characters were developing. I have just finished watching weeks 3 and 4. The plot thickens. I am enjoying the story and I'm looking forward to the story developing further. Bring on next week. Keep watching fellow beanies.

Hello, all! I just want to share my excitement over this drama. It was riveting from the get-go and I love that the main characters not only have great chemistry, but all of them are multi-faceted. This is my first time to watch Jo Jung-Suk because, for some reason, I never found the desire to watch "Hospital Playlist". Anyway, it doesn't matter because I already love him as Grand Prince Jinhan/King Lee In. As for Shin Se-Kyung, I've never had any problem with her acting unlike a number of viewers. I think she's doing excellently portraying Kang Hee-Soo/Mongwoo. I already love their chemistry and I'm so looking forward to where this drama will take us. ^_^

I'm a little surprised that I enjoyed these first two episodes. No loud exclamations from me, but a quiet bloom of interest. I was prepared to be tired of the palace politics and be bored quick... However, I managed to get through it. It was all typical stuff though.

The scenes with the leads were lovely and understated. The stream one was nice. The scenery was beautiful and I liked hearing the sounds of the water and birds. I also liked it when Hee Soo startled Jin Han after he surprised her first and then compared how his child-like reaction was similar to hers. She was witty and observant.

Jo Jung Seok is a talented and likable actor. I just haven't seen that many of his works.

I've heard complaints about Shin Se Kyung's acting in the past, but I honestly feel like she has improved. The most recent work I've seen her in was Arthdal Chronicles (2023) and I thought she was good there (didn't finish the drama, but that was not her fault lol). Tree With Deep Roots (2011) was the other drama I saw her in so it has been a while.

This is the first time where I've wanted to learn more about baduk! I've seen it countless times in shows, but never looked up the gameplay until now. xD